Fighters Only

Issue 028

August 2007

Heavyweight James ‘Colossus’ Thompson (14-6-0) fights for Team Trojan, and until recently was contracted to Pride in Japan. James trains six days a week, and Fighters Only spent a day with him to see what else he gets up to...

08:00: James normally gets up around 8am, and loads up on protein shakes and smoked salmon with scrambled eggs. While he isn’t cutting weight at the moment James is dead on with the contents of his food, and looks to load protein before training, and carbs after.

10:30: Off to boxing training in Bristol with the rest of Team Trojan, at the Broad Plain Boys Club run by Dennis Stinchcombe. The team train with professional boxers four times a week to improve their stand up game. After some shadow boxing to warm up, and 10 rounds on the bag, they move onto sparring and technique work. Mark Buchanan, (also on the Cage Rage 22 card vs James McSweeney) has come down to train with the team, and he and James partner up for the day.

The team are coached by Charlie Joseph, Team Trojan manager and ex-European Thai-boxing champion, and Andy, an ABA boxing coach. On days when he isn’t boxing James attends jiu-jitsu classes or does weights. James only gets Saturdays off entirely, unless he is taking a break from training after a fight.

13:30: James and the rest of the team pile into cars to go to the wrestling class in Cheltenham. A quick tuna sandwich on the way makes up lunch, with more protein and recovery drinks as the day goes on. James eats food, or takes a supplement every couple of hours to maintain his energy.

14:30: We get to Cheltenham, and the team gym. A quick change and its back onto the mats with Saeed, an ex-Olympic squad wrestler. Saeed puts James and the team through half an hour of brutal cardio to warm them back up, and then its on with a technical session on takedowns, followed by a bit of ‘winner stays on’ wrestling. The pace that James, and his teammate Ronnie Mann are setting is blistering.

16:00: James has to leave the mat early to make his monthly visit to Ultimate Sports Nutrition (USN), (his nutritional supplement sponsor). As part of the relationship they have with James, he receives nutritional advice on a regular basis about what supplements will best support his training regime. This time James also had to sign marketing materials and review the content of the new USN website.

17:30: We leave Cheltenham and return to Bristol. Sometimes James may decide to go to the public wrestling classes for a third training session, but today he heads to a restaurant with his girlfriend, Graziella. It’s a regular haunt for James, the staff know him, and he even has a ‘usual’ dish. While he waits for Graziella to arrive, James speaks to the manager of his website on the phone, and also confirms tomorrow’s training.